EN World EN5ider has launched! EN World EN5ider is the new way to get regular gaming articles and adventures online. For a small monthly donation, you will receive rules articles, gaming advice, adventures, and more. Collect EN World EN5ider articles and adventures designed and formatted to be filed in a binder.

Re: Games Day

Originally posted by Scott814thmpco Hi Mr. Gygax
Games Plus in Mount Prospect Ill. is having a D&D games day Nov 9th, It would be really cool if you dropped by or better yet DM'ed some good o' 1st edition D&D.

Scott

Hola Scott!

As I recall, I am slated to go to the gathering at Games Plus in Mt. Prospect--it's only a bit over an hour's drinve from here in Lake Geneva. I'll be coming with Chris Clark and likely my son Alex.

As it stands, though, I am going to be running an LA game or the like--the LA fans were the ones who invited Chris and I to come about a month or so back.

For a Grade B fantasy film it was passable because one could enjoy the few good bits and laugh at the rest. Otherwise, virtually nothing was right in it. Even the special effects were pretty mediocre. Anyway, no need to belabor the matter, as it is dead, very dead indeed...

Re: Questions for Gary

1. Did you ever consider either adding more detail (a map, details of encounters, etc) of the drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu to D3, or publishing a separate product detailing Erelhei Cinlu?

2. In your own words, how would you summarize the difference between AD&D and Basic/Expert/etc. D&D?

3. How important do you feel the concept of 'character archtypes' is to the D&D game? Do you feel that 3e rules, by going away from having core character classes, has lost something important here?

4. In your campaign, was the dissident drow Nilonim from D3 ever a PC?

P.S. Please write a sequal to Necropolis.

Okay, and some answers

1. As I noted in an earlier response, the drow city in the vault is one that I did think about revisiting, expanding. Becuase such a project demanded considerable time and effort, it didn't happen, so now it's in WotC's hands.

2. I am not going to try to do critical comparative anayyses here or in any chat. That's a task that demands much careful thinking and effort. The only thing I can say about the matter is this: Play the two and judge for yourself. I think that AD&D is a "tighter" game than D&D was, more directed, less free-form. However, that applies mainly to those DMs who followed the book, if you will, as AD&D could be played in the same style as D&D.

3. I feel very strongly that the archetype is crucial to the D&D game, and yes, I believe that 3E has suffered by virtually abandoning that concept. Without it I don't think the game will maintain so strong an appeal as it originally possessed. Time will tell.

4. The drow was strictly an invented NPC. None of my players ever showed much interest in playing drow. Of course, with well-established PCs going before the drow were introduced, that's likely a principal reason for such lack of interest.

As for the sequel to NECROPOLIS, as I mentioned before, it's in the hands of the gods. I need to be able to open some MAc+ files, find the maps I made around 1994 for a potential CRPG, then see how much work is involved in changing the adventure from a computer base to a paper one.

Look, Max! It's those pyramid building aliens I've heard about in speculative films and books! They came to earth to build these immense structures to keep their razor blades sharp and their hamburger fresh!

Re: Questions for Gary

Originally posted by johnsemlak 3. How important do you feel the concept of 'character archtypes' is to the D&D game? Do you feel that 3e rules, by going away from having core character classes, has lost something important here?

This is a question both for the poster and for Gary - how does 3e not have these archetypes? How has 3e moved away from core character classes; it has as many (OK, a few more) as any other edition did? Is it easier multiclassing that seems to be the main difference, game-wise? I imagine many still play single-classed characters.

I'm not being argumentative; I genuinely don't understand this assertion. I've played D&D/AD&D for something like 22-23 years, and I don't see that much of a difference in 3e in this regard.

Originally posted by CrazyMage What are your favorite drinks, and when should I bring them over?

Hell, I'll drink just about anything Bombay Sapphire martinis top the list of appertifs, but I like manhattans too. Don't think there's a form of liquor I don't like, and beer or ale is fine--as long as it isn't mass-brewed crap or "light" stuff. Ugh!

Seriously, though, I don't usually imbibe doring gaming sessions, and if it's hot and I decide to have a g&t, it's light on the gin and heavy on tonic and ice.

So, Whitewater isn't too far distant. Want to join the Thursday night LA game session here? We begin c. 6:30 and close at 10--everybody has a ways to drive to get home, or else needs to be up early for school

Re: Re: Questions for Gary

Originally posted by ColonelHardisson

This is a question both for the poster and for Gary - how does 3e not have these archetypes?

No way I am goping to get involved in a critical analysis of 3E now, amigo. I will say that while you suggest that some players stick with a single-class character, is that because of the way the game is done or in spite of it? Also, the way that skills and feats are presented tends to both encourage multi-classing while blurring the archetypes. Yes, one can still play 3E with archetypes, but the system does not encourage it, nor is that in the spirit of the system--gaining power.